Monday, 1 November 2010

USCIS Unveils New Secure Naturalization Documents

A few months after unveiling high-tech, secure green cards, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services has unveiled new, safer and more secure naturalization documents.

These documents are used by naturalized citizens to obtain passports and other legal documents. In the past, these certificates were filled in manually, and personal photographs were merely stuck onto the document. Now, in the newer version, all important information will be embedded into the certificate. The new document will also come with factors that make it harder to duplicate.

Earlier this year, Los Angeles immigration lawyers had also been impressed with the new design for green cards. Green cards are for those immigrants who have managed to obtain permanent residency status in the US. The new cards come with a personalized holographic image, and a laser engraved fingerprint. According to immigration officials, the redesigns of both the green card and the naturalization documents were long overdue. The design of the green cards has not been updated since 1988, and the naturalization document designs have remained the same since 2003. Even the 2003 design did not add any security features to the design.

California immigration lawyers believe that the new designs will help prevent fraud. The newer secure green card and naturalization documents should allay the concerns of critics who believe that the agency’s document designs promote fraud. Meanwhile, the agency continues to have its critics who insist that the verification process is not strong enough to justify any redesign.